ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT The codes and standards constitute the primary decision support for practicing structural engineers; the vast majority of structures is designed and controlled according to these legal regulations. Since a large proportion of a society's wealth is invested in the continuous development and maintenance of the built infrastructure, it is essential that structural design codes represent a rationale that facilitates design solutions that balance expected adverse consequences (e.g. in case of failure or deterioration) with investments into more safety (e.g. larger cross sections). Structural design codes should therefore be calibrated on the basis of associated risks or, in the same vein, on the basis of associated failure probability. In the present paper, reliability targets for reliability based code calibration will be discussed. Special reference to the concurrent revision of the EUROCODES is made.
